Method of making shoes



W. HUBBARD.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-2B, 1920.

1,401,258, Patented Dec. 27, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

, Fig.9.

W. HUBBARD.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28,1920.

Patented Dec. 27, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM nunnaan. or nocnesrnn, NEW YORK. ASSIGNOR TO UNITED sHon Macnmnny conroaa'rron, or PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF MAKING snons.

Specification of Letters Ifatent. Patented Dec. 27, 1921.

Application filed January 28, 1920. Serial No. 354,716.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it'known that I, WILLIAM HUBBARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Methods of Making Shoes, of which the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to shoemaking and more especially to methods of making covered heels.

In the manufacture of heels composed of a plurality of lifts it is customary to make the heel-blanks or bodies by various heelbuilding operations and thereafter to attach the heel-blanks to the shoes by machinery that determines the desired relation of the heelblank to the shoe and that secures to the attached heel-blank a toplift that has previously been formed ap roximately to the desired final contour. lne reason for imparting approximately the desired con tour to the toplift before attaching the latter to the untrirnnied heel arises from the fact that the toplift is utilized as a templet by which to trim or shave the body of the heel after it has been attached to the shoe, and for such practice heel-trimming ma chines are provided with work-guiding de vices called toplift-guards that bear against the edge of the toplift and thereby guide the body of the heel relatively to a rotary cutter so as to enable the operative to trim the body of the heel according to the outline of the toplift. The practice above described has been followed generally in the manufactnre of heels that are not to be provided with covers, and also to some ex tent in the manufacture of those that are to be nrovided with covers. In the latter case the procedure has been substantially as fol-- lows: First, to attach a previously formed toplift to the untrimmed heelbody; second,

to trim the heel-body and the topliftto final shape; third, to scour the heel-body and the toplift; fourth, to detachthe toplift from the heel-body; fifth, to apply the cover to the heel-body so that the lower marginal portion of the cover will be folded inwardly and cemented to the bottom of the heelbody; sixth, to attach a new toplift slightly larger than the trimmed heel-body; and seventh, to trim the new toplift while the latter is attached to the covered heel.

The reason for attaching a new toplift instead of the one that was originally at tached and trimmed wit-h the heel-body is that, since the edge of the original topliftas trimmed with the heel-body is flush with the body of the heel before the cover is attached, and since the cover increases the lateral dimensions of the heel-body beyond those of the original toplift, the latter is too small and therefore would spoil the lines and the appearance of the heel if it were reattached. Consequently, in order to obtain the desired lines and appearance it has been necessary to sacrifice the original toplift, and this has entailed considerable waste, the saving of which is an object of this invention.

Broadly stated, the present invention provides an improved method of making covered heels by which the desired lines and appearance of the completed heel may be obtained without wasting lifts and without sacrificing any of the advantages of utilizing a toplift of approximately linal contour as a templet when trimming the body of the heelrpreparatory to applying the beet cover.

According to my present improved method a templet .18 attached to the untrimmed heel-body to guide thc latter relatively to the cutter by which it is to be shaped. This templet may be, in fact, the toplift that will form a part of the completed heel, although it would be within the scope of the invention to use for this purpose a templet that could be used repeatedly with an in definite number of heels to promote successive trimming operations. In any event, whether the templet is or is not the toplift that is to form a part of the finished heel, it preferably embodies substantially the desired final contour of the toplift although it may be slightly larger than final size without defeating the purposes or advantages of the invention. The next step in my present method is to trim the heel-body by the guidance of the templet, at the same time leaving the templet larger in its lateral dimensions than the contiguous portion of the heel-body. Then, in the event that the templot is the toplift that is to form a part of the finished heel, it will be enough larger than. the contiguous portion of the covered heel to provide sufficient stock to insure the desired lines and appearance when the heel is completed. After trimming the body of the heel the templet is detached, and then if it is desired to scour the heel the securing operation is performed while the toplif is detached. After this, the cover of leather, cloth, or other thin sheet material, will be applied to the heel-body and its lower marginal portion will be folded inwardly and cemented or otherwise secured to the bottom of the heel-body. Then the original toplift, ifone has been previously attached to the heel-body to serve as a templet for trimming, will be reattached in registration with its original position on the heel-body, or if a templet other than such toplift has been used to promote the trimming operation, a toplift larger than the contiguous portion of the heel-body will be attached by any of the means usually employed for attaching toplifts. Then, if necessary, the toplift will be trimmed according to the contour of the contiguous portion of the covered heel-body, and afterward the bevel ing, edge-setting, staining, lournisliing, or other desired finishing operation or operations will be performed on the toplift, according to its requirements.

For purposes of illustration the accompanying drawings show a heel in successive stages of development according to one practicable aspect of the'present invention, and while these drawings disclose the method as it may be practised on a heel composed of a large number of lifts, and upon a heel that has been attached to a shoe, the invention is not to be understood as being limited to a heel of the construction shown, nor to a heel of the style shown, nor to a heel that has been attached to a shoe prior to practising such method, since it would not be necessary or feasible for present purposes to show more than one adaptation of the method in order to disclose the principles of the invention.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 represents a vertical cross-section through a built-up heel attached to a shoe and provided with a temple-t in the place or" the toplift, the body of the heel being untrimmed but the proposed shape to be produced by trimming being indicated by broken lines. This figure includes also a plurality of nails that would ordinarily be required in a heel of the style shown, and although Figs. 1-, 5, 6 and 8 represent the same heel in successive stages of development the nails have been omitted from the latter figures merely to simplify the drawings and to avoid confusion. For the same reason much of the usual cross-hatching has been omitted.

Fig. 2 represents a shoe such as that shown by Fig. l in cotiperative relation to a heeltrimming machine, the heel being shown as having partly undergone a trimming operation.

Fig. 3 represents a view similar to Fig. 2, showing a later stage in the trimming of the heel-body.

Fig. el is a view similar to Fig. '1, showing the heel as having been trimmed approximately to the desired shape.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. -lexcepting that the teinplet is omitted to represent the fact that it has been detached from the trimmed heel.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 ex epting that the heel-cover has been applied to the heel-body.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the heel portion of the shoe representing the heel-liody as having the cover applied to it, broken lines being included to represent the location of the toplift when the latter has been .linally attached. These dotted lines also represent a possible shape to which the toplift may be trimmed.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. (l excepting that the unfinished toplift has been attached to the covered heel.

Fig. 9 is a vertical cross-section through the shoe looking toward the heel-end from a transverse plane in front of; the heel, and represents the latter as having been completed to the extent of "trimming the top'lilt to the final shape, and also represents the heel as having a brea t-facing applied thereto.

The principal elements included in Fig. are a shoe-up er l0, insole 11, outsole 'll, base section 13, top section 14-, templct heelseat nails 16, heel-attaching nails 17. and nails 18 connecting the top section ll.- with the base section 13. A last 19 is ieprr-sentwl as having the usual heelseat plate 20 of sheet. metal to turn and clench the heelseat nails and the heel-attaching nails, as shown. The templet 15, as shown. is a toplift. Since the present prevailing style of heels of the character shown calls for an ornamenta lift of soft sheet-metal between the ioplift and the covered heel-bot y, such ornamental lift is included and is indicated at 2i.

Heel-bodies the style shown are usually made in two sections 13 and 1- in order to provide the pitch required of the heelseat,

and accordin ly the base section 13 is shown as being anc cred to the shoe by the attaching nails 17 while the top section 14 is shown as being anchored to the base section by the connecting nailslS. Furthermore, in accordance with the usual practice, the lower ends of the nails 18 are represented as projecting beyond the first cover-receiving lift 22 in order to provide means for anchoring the toplift to the section 14: by what is sometimes called blind nails. Any suitable or preferred heel-attaching machine, or other means, may be used to assemble the elements as shown by Fig. 1, with due regard to the location of the templet 15 so that the latter, having been previousl shaped approximately to the desired fina contour, will serve as a guide by which to trim the body of the heel.

Since the heel shown has extreme height or depth. and consequently has a considerable pitch, Figs. 2 and 3 are made to show two successive trimming operations which are usually desirable if not actually neccs sary with heels of this style. Referring to Fig. 2, the trimming cutter 23, which may be regarded as being one of a plurality of similar cutters carried by a rotary head, is shaped to impart the desired curvature to the lower portion of the heel-body. In Fig. 2 the templet 15 is shown as hearing against a guiding element or guard that bears a predetermined relation to the field of operation of the cutter or cutters 23, this guard having a base surface 24 for engaging the flat face of the templet and having a shoulder 25 for engaging the edge of the templet. A counter-guard is indicated at 26 and. in accordance with Well-known construction in heel-trimming. machines, it would preferably be under the influence of a spring or other means tending to move it in the direction indicated by an arrow, in. order to main tain the flat face of the templetlh against the surface 24 of the templet-guard. It is to be observed that the clearance between the surface 24 and the field of operation of the cutter is as great as the thickness of the templet, and consequently it will be apparent that so long as the templet remains as it should, against the surface241, it will not be spoiled by the cutter. In order, however, to avoid trimming the meta]. lift 21. too much it would be preferable to provide the cut ters 23 with notches, as shown, even though this results in leaving a thin. flange 27 of untrimmed stock on the first cover-receiving lift 22. When such a flange is formed it may be removed by a scouring operation after the templet has been detached from the trimmed heeLbOdy.

After trimming the lower part of the heelbody by the cutters 23 the heel may be presented to a rotaryicutter such as that indicated at 28 inFig. 3 to trim the back and sides of the heel-base and the heel seat portion 29 of the outsole. The cutter 28, as shown, is provided with a rand-crease guard 30 and with a guard 31 arranged to bear on the previously trimmed portion of the heel. As shown by F ig. 3. the heel is arranged to receive the first cut or roughing out by the cutter 28 and when this has been completed it may be presented to the cutter a second time to effect a final cut so as to make the two trimmed portions flush relatively to each other. This part of the trimming 0peration determines the contour of the base portion of the heel according to the counter portion of the shoe, and blends the base portion with the portion that was previously trimmed according to the contour of the templet 15.

hen the back and sides of the hee1body have been trimmed the heel will be in the condition represented. by Fig. 4-, and the next step will be to remove the templet 1.5 and the plate 21 if such plate is present. The remaining heel-body will then appear as represented by Fig. 5, and may then be, if it has not already been, presented to a breasting machine to shape the breast according to the shape represented by broken lines in F ig. 2 or according to any other desired shape. The heel is thus developed to a conditi'on where it may be scoured to smooth the trimmed surface, to remove any shoulder that may have been formed by failure to blend the two trimming operations, and to remove the thin flange 27 of the second lift, provided such flange has been formed.

The next step would be to apply cover 32 to the back and sides of the trimmed hecl body. The upper marginal portion of such cover would be tucked into the rand-crease, as shown by Fig. 6, and the lower marginal portion would be folded inwardly against the bottom face of the second lift. The front marginal portion would usually be folded inwardly against the breast of the heel to be covered finally by a suitable breast-facing. If the cover 82 is made of leather or textile fabric it would preferably be fastened to the heel by cement.

Fig. 7 represents an outsole as having been split to form a breast-facing 3 3, and the latter is represented as having been cemented to the breast of the heel and as having bccu triniuned to conform to the edges defined by the breast and sides of the heel. After the heel has been thus covered the original toplift and metal. plate 21. or, in fact, any suitable toplift with or without a metal plate may be attached as shown by Fig. 8. If the toplil't has been previously attached to serve as a templet for trim ming, it will have been penetrated by the nails 18 so that when it is re-attached the nails and the penetrations formed thereby will insure the original registration of the toplift with the heel-body. The anchoring or the toplift may be supplemented by additional means such as tacks or slugs. In some cases a screw is inserted approximately at the center of the toplift.

The covered heel thus provided with a toplift the lateral dimensions of which will be as great and usually greater than, those of the covered heel-body and if such toplift is too large or if its edge does not embody the desired bevel or other formation it may be trimmed to any final shape desired. For example, the re-attached toplift is shown by Figs. 7 and 9 as having been beveled according to the flaring f rmation of the heel-body and consequently it would, in most cases, be desirable to bevel the lower edge as shown in these figures. Trimming machines for this purpose are capable of trimming not only the leather of the toplift but also soft metal such as aluminum or a soft alloy of which the ornamental plate 21 may be composed.

From the foregoing description it is to be observed that my improved method provides for trimming the base portion of the heel according to the shape of the shoe to which the untrimmed heel-body has been attached, and provides also for trimming the remainder of the heel according to a previously formed templet that has been attached in a predetermined position upon an untrimmed heel, and that no part of the heel is wasted or injured incidentally to practis ing such method.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in attaching an untrimmed heel having a toplift of approximately final shape, rimming the heel so as to make the first lift of the heel-body smaller than the toplift, detaching the toplift, applying a cover to the heel, and reattaching the original toplift in registration with its original position on the heel-body.

2. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in attaching an untrimmed heel, trimming the heel to the contour of the counter portion of the shoe and to that of the toplift while maintaining the original contour of the toplift, detaching the toplift, applying a cover to the remaining heel-body, and re-attaching the original toplift.

3. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in attaching an untrimmed heel, trimming the heel to the contour of the counter portion of the shoe and to that of the toplift while maintaining the original contour of the toplift, detaching the toplift, scouring the remaining heel-body, applying a cover to the scoured heel-body, and re-attaching the original. toplift.

4. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in attaching an mt trimmed heel having a templet in the place of the toplift, trimming the heel according to the templet while maintaining the original contour of the templet, detaching the templet, applying a cover to the heel, and attaching a toplift to the covered heel.

5. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in attaching an untrimmed heel having a templet in the place of the toplift, trimming the heel according to the templet while maintaining the original contour of the templet, detaching the templet, applying a cover to the heel, and attaching to the covered heel a toplift of substantially the shape and size of the templet.

6. That improven'lent in methods of making shoes which consists in attaching an untrimmed heel having a toplift of substantially final shape and size, trimming the heel according to the toplift so as to make the first lift of the heel-body smaller than the toplift, detaching the toplift, scouring the remaining heel-body, applying a cover to the heel-body, re-attaching the original toplift, and operating upon the latter while held. by the covered heel.

7. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in attaching an untrimmed heel having a toplift of substantially final shape and a lift of soft metal interposed between the toplift and the first lift of the heel-body, trimming the heel above said metallic lift according to the contour of the toplift so as to make the first lift of the heel-body smaller than the metallic lift, detaching the toplift and said metallic lift, applying a cover to the remaining heel-body, re-attaching the original toplift and metallic lift, and thereafter trimming the metallic lift and the toplift.

8. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in attaching an untrimmed heel having a toplift of substantially final outline, trimming the first and other lifts of the heel-body so as to make the first lift smaller than the toplift, detacln ing the toplift, applying a cover to the remaining heel-body, and re-attaching the original toplift with a metallic lift interposed between it and the first lift of the covered heel-body.

9. That improvement in methods of malzing covered heels which consists in. shaping a heel-body according to a previously shaped toplift attached thereto and thereby making the smaller end of the heel-body smaller than the toplift, detaching the toplift, applying a cover to the trimmed heelbody, and re-attaching the original toplift to the heel-body covered as aforesaid.

10. That improvement in methods of making covered heels which consists in shaping a heel-body according to a templet atbody a toplift of substantially the same tached thereto in the place of the toplift and lateral dimensions and contour as the thereby reducing the lateral dimensions of templet. 10 the heel-body, adjacent to the templet, to In testimony whereof I have signed my 5 less than those of the templet, detaching the name to this specification.

templet, appl ing a cover to the trimmed heel-body, an attaching to the covered heel- WILLIAM HUBBARD. 

